February – 2011 – ReeWrite

Update

The goddesses at Groupon must have ESP! The morning after I submitted this post I got my daily Groupon email and it was (hold on to your seats), for three stretch mark removal sessions for $220 with Dr. Morris Westfried right here in Brooklyn!! The same Dr. Westfried that I paid $1,000 to remove one of my three tattoos in 2006. Where were the Gods, forget the Gods, where was Groupon then, HUH?!

—

I often refer to the 40 weeks I spent pregnant as the most magical nine months of my life. But those gorgeous nine months left me with stretch marks on the underbelly of my belly, the part you can’t see when you’re carrying around a watermelon in your uterus. I didn’t even know they were there until I dropped a good chunk of the 32-pounds I added while preggers and my tan vanished after the summer. At my six-week post-partum appointment my midwife, Beverly, advised me there was cream out there for it.

Save. Your. Money.

I read the decidedly mixed reviews for Mederma on drugstore.com and took the plunge anyway. I have been using the cream as advised, twice daily, for a few months now and zero, zilch, nada. As in, they are not gone. NOT as in there are no more. My stretch marks, which are slightly darker than my skin color, are still very much with me.

I’m torn about my mama-marks. On the one hand they signify a magical time in my life when I did not yet know the little person budding inside me, and on the other hand they serve as a reminder that even if I can get my body back into a bikini, it won’t ever be perfect.

As far as Mederma goes, I wish I had saved my money.

—

Are there any mama’s out there that can recommend a different product for stretch marks? One that actually works?! Do share!

I’ve had this blog for almost three years but always kept it to myself. No more. This year, I made ‘building a blog community’ one of my New Year’s resolutions, and well, to do that I need to blog more for starters. Becoming a more active participant in blogs I like would help, too.

Writing down my monthly takeaways will help me see how therapeutic this blog can be and how much growth and progress I have made in my life (or not). After all, a month left behind means my son is one month older, I am one month older and therefore, hopefully, one month wiser.

My hope is that these takeaways will be fun and interactive and that you will join me by posting about your takeaways from this past month in the comments, below.

So, here goes…

My January Takeaways

1. Breastfeeding a baby who has teeth is not that painful after all.

2. Running with the baby jogger kicks my butt.

3. Collecting unemployment insurance benefits does not mean I am a stay-at-home-mom.

4. I am torn about going back to work as an analyst at a financial company. (Writing more on that depends on whether or not I land the job).

5. Homeless people have a story. My new friends’ story in particular, is a compelling one.

6. The ASPCA has a program called “Operation Pit” in which even the most unfortunate pitbull gets spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped, FOR FREE.